Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I think they were hoping that someone would take him. If no one will, they can (1) tell him and his agent to shut up about wanting to play elsewhere, since no one else wants him at that price either, and (2) start negotiating with teams for a deal in which they will be stuck with part of his contract.
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or, (3) tell him he has to renegotiate the contract, with a hefty paycut, if he wants to go elsewhere.
they could do (1) or (2) without the waivers. the waivers simply proved that he's overpaid, because he was basically a free-agent with a pre-signed contract. Bear in mind he and his agent knew (or at least supposedly did) know that he would be placed on waivers--Manny wanted to be moved, and the Sox came up with this as step 1. Evidently it didn't work since the waivers have now expired.
Or, taking the cynical view, it helps cap the market for all owners on free-agent negotiations for Vlad Guerrero and the rest. (i.e., if no one wants manny, no strings attached, for $20m, it's unlikely any other player will command that.
